May 4th
Day number 1 started off with a panel discussion between ADB and the Civil Society Cooperation on the requirements in the development of adb's energy strategy. The rest of the day was more interesting with us working on the cherry blossom bookmarks and planning out activities for the next day.And the day ended with the grand reception and cultural event organised by the Kyoto committee. I shall go into details of each event now.
PANEL DISCUSSION
The panelists at the discussion were:
Bruce Murray, Director General, Operations Evaluation Department,ADB
Carl Middleton,South East Asian Campaigner,International Rivers Network
Zhao ang, Greenpeace China
Mika Ohbayashi,Director,Institute for Sustainable Energy Policy
Ana Maria Nemenzo,Freedom from Debt Coalition
Woochong Um,Director,Energy,Transport and Water Division,ADB
The discussion was attended by representatives of several ngos and the media was present as well. Minutes of the discussion can be read at www.adb.org/annualmeeting/2007
'CLEAN COAL'... What??!! Yes, this was one of the strategies put forth and strongly considered. All except Zhao ang from greenpeace,China, seemed to be in complete agreement with this. Zhao ang said he wanted to make something clear and stated "coal is dirty energy and can never be even considered clean"
CHERRY BLOSSOM BOOKMARKS
The national flower of japan, the cherry blosssoms, bloom earlier each year due to the effect of global warming. We used these as a symbol to represent disturbed ecosystems all over the world.These were to be handed out to the Governors and other delegates as they arrive for the Opening Session for the Board of Directors, thereby giving us an opportunity to speak to them on taking action on climate change to safeguard our future and the generations to come.
RECEPTION AND CULTURAL EVENT
This was a dinner party organised by the host country. Solargeneration and Greenpeace decided to keep a low profile, joining the rest in the ELABORATE dinner. We did get to speak to a lot of the guests and they seemed very interested in what we had to say about our aims and our actions.
May 5th
SG KIMONO PARTY
I can confidently say "we all looked beautiful"... six solargeneration delegates strolled down the aisle in the Japanese traditional wear, the 'KIMONO', at the dinner reception organised by ADB President Kuroda.
Walking around elegantly in the Kimono, we did not fail to catch the attention of every single person at the reception.
As we shook hands with the president we made our message clear by opening out the fans we carried, which read 'adb quit coal' and 'clean energy now'. Though the president was annoyed,if i may say so,he was pretty much helpless.
Rest of the evening we walked around in 3's making our message clear. Camera flashes nearly blinded us with people wanting a picture with the multinational 'japanese' girls.
The guests and delegates, all equally impressed came up to us saying 'impressive work' and 'nice tactic'. Some even saying 'yes,so no more power plants'... but we all know how much they actually meant it...though we can always remain positive.
And the whole experience?? Way beyond words!!! To begin with, it was a 5 HOUR job to get dressed!! And another 5 hours in front of the cameras? Even more tedious.But the feeling of being dressed in Japan's most celebrated and prestigious traditional outfit and all the attention... no words can describe that...
We also had delegates from Turkey and Kazakistan and the presidents of some other banks appreciating our work saying "Atleast the youth are taking action and not waiting for their governments." The response on the whole was really good. Though our messge may not necessarily be put into action immediately, they were crystal clear and did leave a lasting impression
We were the Solargeneration 'MAIKO' girls with a very strong message... 'ADB QUIT COAL' and 'CLEAN ENERGY NOW'
Day number 1 started off with a panel discussion between ADB and the Civil Society Cooperation on the requirements in the development of adb's energy strategy. The rest of the day was more interesting with us working on the cherry blossom bookmarks and planning out activities for the next day.And the day ended with the grand reception and cultural event organised by the Kyoto committee. I shall go into details of each event now.
PANEL DISCUSSION
The panelists at the discussion were:
Bruce Murray, Director General, Operations Evaluation Department,ADB
Carl Middleton,South East Asian Campaigner,International Rivers Network
Zhao ang, Greenpeace China
Mika Ohbayashi,Director,Institute for Sustainable Energy Policy
Ana Maria Nemenzo,Freedom from Debt Coalition
Woochong Um,Director,Energy,Transport and Water Division,ADB
The discussion was attended by representatives of several ngos and the media was present as well. Minutes of the discussion can be read at www.adb.org/annualmeeting/2007
'CLEAN COAL'... What??!! Yes, this was one of the strategies put forth and strongly considered. All except Zhao ang from greenpeace,China, seemed to be in complete agreement with this. Zhao ang said he wanted to make something clear and stated "coal is dirty energy and can never be even considered clean"
CHERRY BLOSSOM BOOKMARKS
The national flower of japan, the cherry blosssoms, bloom earlier each year due to the effect of global warming. We used these as a symbol to represent disturbed ecosystems all over the world.These were to be handed out to the Governors and other delegates as they arrive for the Opening Session for the Board of Directors, thereby giving us an opportunity to speak to them on taking action on climate change to safeguard our future and the generations to come.
RECEPTION AND CULTURAL EVENT
This was a dinner party organised by the host country. Solargeneration and Greenpeace decided to keep a low profile, joining the rest in the ELABORATE dinner. We did get to speak to a lot of the guests and they seemed very interested in what we had to say about our aims and our actions.
May 5th
SG KIMONO PARTY
I can confidently say "we all looked beautiful"... six solargeneration delegates strolled down the aisle in the Japanese traditional wear, the 'KIMONO', at the dinner reception organised by ADB President Kuroda.
Walking around elegantly in the Kimono, we did not fail to catch the attention of every single person at the reception.
As we shook hands with the president we made our message clear by opening out the fans we carried, which read 'adb quit coal' and 'clean energy now'. Though the president was annoyed,if i may say so,he was pretty much helpless.
Rest of the evening we walked around in 3's making our message clear. Camera flashes nearly blinded us with people wanting a picture with the multinational 'japanese' girls.
The guests and delegates, all equally impressed came up to us saying 'impressive work' and 'nice tactic'. Some even saying 'yes,so no more power plants'... but we all know how much they actually meant it...though we can always remain positive.
And the whole experience?? Way beyond words!!! To begin with, it was a 5 HOUR job to get dressed!! And another 5 hours in front of the cameras? Even more tedious.But the feeling of being dressed in Japan's most celebrated and prestigious traditional outfit and all the attention... no words can describe that...
We also had delegates from Turkey and Kazakistan and the presidents of some other banks appreciating our work saying "Atleast the youth are taking action and not waiting for their governments." The response on the whole was really good. Though our messge may not necessarily be put into action immediately, they were crystal clear and did leave a lasting impression
We were the Solargeneration 'MAIKO' girls with a very strong message... 'ADB QUIT COAL' and 'CLEAN ENERGY NOW'
